Gun Review: Rock Island Armory GI Standard FS 1911 – Part 2

According to F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are no second acts in American lives. The rule does not apply to Phillipino firearms. After the GI Standard FS’s abysmal showing during my initial review I sent the gun back to Rock Island for repair. They returned it pronouncing that the bargain basement 1911 had been “complete reliability tuned.” Although Rock Island’s guns are backed with a lifetime warranty, I’m not sure the company offers the exact same vaguely-worded comprehensive service to all their customers (see: bolded typeface below). Anyway here’s my review of their best effort to make the gun run . . .

Upon disassembly, it was clear the Rock Island Armory GI Standard FS 1911 had been thoroughly cleaned. I don’t know how much work they’d done on the breech and feed ramp but the bottom of the breech was much shinier and smoother than all of the other edges around it.

The GI Standard FS’s grip safety had also been smoothed out. It was still pretty pointed, but at least it didn’t have the same sharp edge as before. Looking at the gun’s grip safety, I noticed that it’s not actually square. The safety is clearly angled, one side higher than the other. (I don’t know if that’s the way it was originally.) I reassembled the 1911, doused her with RemOiled and headed to the range.

Rock Island had improved the FS’ ergonomics. During the first test, the gun’s grip sharp, shiny safety cut into the web of my hand. Within a couple of magazines, I was bleeding. During the remainder of the test I shot with gloves. Without the “new” gun, without hand apparel, the safety still cut me up. After 500 rounds, I was exsanguinating though two small holes on the web of my right hand, happy to call it a day.

This FS’ safety is in the style of the original GI safety. I called a Marine who served in the Korean War and then became a Corps armorer and a shooting instructor. I asked him if the 1911’s safety had been an issue. “That’s how we knew if you had the right grip,” he told me. “When your hand was chewed up by the safety, it was high enough on the gun.” I asked him if armorers or Marines filed down their safeties or bought some aftermarket part. He looked at me like I was an idiot. “We wore gloves.”

Whatever Rock Island did to the FS on TTAG’s behalf, reliability vastly improved. I ran the gun with STI and Wilson Combat magazines (the company didn’t return the original magazine). I shot mostly Winchester white box 230gr FMJs. I also fed it a hundred Blazer and Wolf FMJ’s and 32 rounds each of Remington Golden Saber 230gr HPs, Hornady Critical Defense 185gr FTX. And just for fun, I shot eight rounds of Speer 230gr TMJ rounds.

So how did that all play out? I had my first malfunction, a first round failure to feed, at around 100 rounds. Then again about 40 rounds later. Both of those occurred with the Winchester FMJs. I lubed up the gun again and had a few more failures, nothing round specific, with only one failure to return to battery that required me to drop the magazine.

The Remington Golden Saber performed well in the RIA GI Standard FS 1911. Unlike its previous outing, the cartridge seemed to feed more smoothly than any other round, including the FMJs. On the other hand, the FS detested the Speer 230gr TMJ. I had first time failures to feed and failures to return to battery issues. I’ve run that round in other 1911s. Some, like my Colt, like it. Some, like my Ed Brown, don’t. The Rock Island Armory GI Standard FS 1911 really doesn’t.

Looking at my notes, I only had four failures to feed or that failure to return to battery in 500 rounds. That’s not horrible considering the $475 msrp price point. That said, every four magazines or so, the FS’ slide was slow to return to battery. More than once it the gun needed a hard shake forward or thumb press to get the slide to return to battery. At the range, that’s fine. In competition or combat? Not OK at all.

What’s nice is that I was having a particularly good day at the range that day. Some days you’re on, some days you aren’t. This day I was on. Shooting the dueling tree’s plates at 10 yards, I was getting the fifth plate moving before the first plate had swung all the way over. At one point, the other shooter with me turned and asked, “How long did it take for you to learn to do that?” Farago’s heavily depleted ammo supply tells the tale.

The only time I had a hard time hitting the target: after I’d shot the white paint off the plates. At that point, the teeny tiny black blade of the FS’ front sight disappeared on the black background. Aiming turned into guessing. These are GI style sights; they perform as designed. The real challenge arrived the next day when I hauled the FS to the bench, using a front bag for accuracy.

It was overcast and raining intermittently. The range was well shaded. The targets were like antis: a bit dim. At 25 yards, shooting the Remington HP round off a front bag, my best group was still 5”. Most of the groups were closer to 6”. The tiny little black blade made it difficult to ID the target – in that environment and light. My 10 yard shoot off the bag is a better indication of accuracy, yielding groups around 1.5”.

F. Scott Fitzegerald cautioned us: never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. As you’d hope, as you’d expect, the factory-improved Rock Island Armory GI Standard FS 1911 (from the truth about guns!) was a lot better the second time around. It’s still not pretty and it’s still not perfect. After more than 1000 rounds and a Rock Island’s gunsmith’s best effort there are still reliability issues. But it is cheap . . .

Assuming you could purchase a new FS finished to this standard (or receive the same repair treatment afforded the world’s most popular firearms website), you might overlook the FS’ ho-hum accuracy and reliability. Or you could forget it, save-up and buy something much better straight out of the box. I think you know which way I’d go . . .

Appearance * * *
Cosmetically, it’s the same FS as before, with the sharp shiny edge on the safety removed.

Accuracy * *
I’ll give this an extra star this time. It still doesn’t perform how I would expect a full frame 1911 to shoot, but on the days I was shooting, that particular sight system wasn’t ideal.

Reliability * * *
Reliability is subjective. This heavily breathed-on gun had about a one percent failure rate. At this price, I say that’s reasonable. Assuming you could get it this well sorted at this price. Which is not a given.

Overall * * *
Compared with other 1911s, I’d give this gun two stars. But it’s dirt cheap. That low price point bumps it up into the mediocre bracket. After it was repaired.

I have a RIA tactical .45 ACP with 2930 rounds through it and I have had 2 malfunctions 1 FTE in the first 200 rounds through the gun and yesterday 06/11/2015 a failure to go in battery with aluminum case federal fmj. Yes I keep track of how many rounds I put through my handguns. I have a friend who has the exact same model RIA and he had several malfunctions before he got the first 100 rnds through the gun, after that no problems at all. This is just my experience

When they start doing that it’s time for a new recoil spring. You guys bash the Lower cost 1911 without realizing they are all 1911’s go with wilson springs and you’ll shoot just as good as the kimber guys. You get what you pay for is BULL given by the MY 1911 is better because the name it carries.

I am happy I picked up a Springfield Loaded Model in 2002 for $475 and do not have to go searching for a 1911 today. Too many malfunctions in this review to make me want to buy it. There have been only a handful of malfunctions in the Springfield over its 13 year life and it was ammo specific.

Nothing wrong with quality, I have some and love them. i have some cheap quality guns also IRA 1911, Ruger SR1911 and love them just as much as the higher costing ones. The problem is some think because you 1911 didn’t cost top dollar they are no good, which is pure snobbery.

At the same price point, a Tisas (Turkish 1911) generally gets few complaints. The one I have sometimes failed to feed the last round of the Mec Gar mag it came with. With Wilson mags, it’s never failed in about 1000 rounds. I should note that I’ve only fired standard 230 ball ammo, though different brands. Never tried hollow points (it was just intended to be a fun gun).

Buy it, love it, wear it out, but keep demanding quality improvement. I have had IWI and Mako products that I would have beat the company’s shippers half to death if I could have gotten my hands on a plane ticket, and a tourist visa. . .

Rock Island imports from some place way ‘over water.’ Like Taurus, I think they use some type of cosmoline made up from the distilled sweat of old Marine armorers, designed to torture the FCOTG “First Cleaner Of The Gun.”

I’ve owned 4 Rock Islands at some point. A GI, a two-tone, a 10mm model, and now a 9mm. The first two and the 9mm I bought used.

The GI I made a project, got it for less than $300 used and it worked fine. Decided to make it not a GI and added a beavertail, some Wilson internals, and then gave it to a friend as a present who still has it to this day.

The two tone I bought off a friend, then sold when I needed some cash. It worked fine and the original owner eventually tracked it down and bought it back.

The 10mm was fantastic. Traded it off in a deal for something else and instantly had remorse, so I tried to get it back to no avail.

The 9mm I recently came across used for $300. It has all the goodies, like beavertail, novak style sights, ambi safety. It functions fine except for the slide failing to lock back on the last round. It’s a mag issue, but reliability is fine.

Honestly, I’ve never had any of them have reliability issues, even with handloads. Everyone makes good an bad at times, I just think this is one of the lemons that happen to crop up.

I wonder what the review would be like if you bought a brand-new one retail rather than a second-hand loaner?

I’ve had the occasional failure to feed, probably about one every 300-400 rounds, which I’m pretty sure is due to an $8 magazine as I’ve only had one FTF with the factory mag. This being about 3k rounds in.

The 1911 platform has more malfunctions than any other firearm I have seen. I have never had to polish a feedramp or file anything on other “cheap” $500 guns. Also, people don’t shoot 500 rounds a session through their $1200 Kimber. If they did, I am sure they will find just as many, if not more malfunctions. Because they are so “tight”.

Have you spent any appreciable time behind the sights of a 1911? Well put together ones run like a top.

I dont’ have a Kimber, but I do have a Dan Wesson. I’ve shot major matches (200-300 rounds no clean/lube). I’ve shot lots of local matches in excess of 500 rounds in a month with no cleaning. It’s never had a malfunction that was not ammo related (tall primer, light charge, etc) in 2000 rounds since January. A lot of guys shoot Springers to the same effect at half the price. You can’t spend $400 on a good 1911, but you can spend $600-800 on a good one that will run. My experience is not the “exception”, you spend time shooting USPSA/IDPA/Steel Challenge and you’ll see. I used to think it was a finicky design until being around enough that didn’t break to make me challenge this belief on the internet.

The problem is the platform is so old that everyone doesn’t build to spec, so a magazine built to one spec, and a gun built to another causes problems. Good news is the Check Mate hybrid mags are inexpensive and work in just about any gun. Imagine if Glock had 10-15 MFG’s making mags for that.

My back up/carry 45 is a S&W E series (model 108482). It runs great, only a couple hundred rounds through it to verify function with my competition gear, but it does what it’s supposed to. Only mods I made were to lighten the trigger and “competition” stuff (grips magwell sights). No reliability mods.

I don’t own one personally. But I have several friends who are constantly making excuses for their Kimbers. I know people compete with the 1911 platform, so competition tuned versions should run like a swiss watch. But a majority of gun owners will fall into the $400-$700 range for a 1911, and you’d think there would be a rock solid model in that price range. Not competition or target accurate, just reliable.

I am all ears if you know of someone who makes such a 1911. And I agree on the dated, and open design. Everyone makes a 1911 these days, and the parts are not always interchangeable. Similar but different.

From Buds you can get a Ruger SR1911 for $650ish, and that will probably do the job.

For $700-800 you get a lot more features, The Range Officer being a good “go to” and the S&W E Series.

Any action pistol 1911 that’s less than about $1k will need some love to square it away for competition. At a minimum you’re talking sights and a mag well. Grips are a maybe (definitely go on mine). You can tune the spring weights to reduce trigger pull. As far as just running, they’ll do that, but reloading a single stack with no mag well on the clock is challenging to say the least. Grip tape on the front strap or on the stock grips if you’re frugal.

E series has a lot of premium features on the frame (front strap checkering, flat top w/ serrations).

The small parts on any of them are functional out of the box, but would welcome a Cylinder and Slide kit.

As much of a fan as I am of the platform, I don’t like the idea of a 1911 in a sandy environment. Took a fall playing football at the beach and the gun got sandy. Cycling the action it went fine, but I can definitely see problems with sand seizing a grip safety, if not a slide.

I had a Kimber Solo jam-o-matic. It was striker fired, NOT a 1911. Having owned several 1911 platforms, and currently owning 4, and having owned Flocks and other types of semi-autos, i’d say it 1911s can be just as reliable as the best striker fired guns (such as Glocks), depending on the execution of the design.

I’ve had probably close to a dozen 1911, and have yet to find one as reliable as a Glock. However, I have had several Glocks with lots of problems. For me, reliable is a subjective term. You have to “know” your gun to find its breaking point. Once you do, any gun can be flawless – despite its flaws.

I’m still partial to Rock Islands, but the Ruger’s not very much more than the upgraded Rock Islands with the same features (upgraded sights mainly) and it feels a lot nicer with an easier to rack slide. If I were to buy a 1911 I’d either go with that or spend some more and get a Springfield.

+1 on the Dan Wesson. I have a Valor that’s noticeably tighter than, say, any Kimber Custom Shop pistol that I’ve felt. Couldn’t even get the damn barrel bushing out initially. Took it out of the box, shot a 2,000+ rounds of mixed type, including steel case Tula and some whiz bang ultralight high velocity frangible loads, over the course of a couple months without cleaning. Put some CLP on the rails at 0 ~1500 rounds. Good gun. Hate when people use Kimbers as the barometer of what they think a good 1911 should be.

The Dan Wesson is a high end 1911. Maybe not in the same category as, say, Les Baer, Ed Brown, Nighthawk, Cabot or whoever, but it’s definitely not a “run of the mill” handgun.

That being said, my understanding of the 1911 and the various issues that crop up re: FTF, FTE, double feeds and other chronic malfunctions that require a gunsmith can be attributed mainly to the original design specifications and manufacturing environment of the 1911 and modern manufacturing methods and tolerances. Glocks, M&Ps, XDs, etc are designed to be tolerant and forgiving of cumulative tolerance creep and the assumption that any hand assembly will be done by layman (as opposed to specialists), i.e. every single part in a gun can be under sized, but as long as it falls within said parts tolerance range, the gun will function reliably, and the persons assembling them don’t require long apprenticeships to become qualified to competently assemble them.

The 1911 was designed in the days when it was assumed that at least one highly skilled craftsman would be supervising the assembly process, and modifying parts that weren’t quite in spec to ensure a reliably functional handgun. The factory workers from Colt in the turn of the century had the same skill sets you find in workers at shops like Cabot, Les Baer and so on.

A 1911 can be every bit as rugged and reliable as a Glock, M&P, or any other modern handgun, but it requires much more skilled manual labor to achieve that end, thus incurring a higher per unit price.

I must have hit the lotto, because I have bought 2 Colts, Series 80 no less in the past year with neither having issues, and have fired everything fed into them. Buds guns is selling the basic blued Government model for a touch over $700. Decently polished and blued although not like the Colts of old and runs like a pistol should. The Government model is a year old this month and has run well over 3000 rounds through it failure free in a combination of lead, semi wadcutters, plated and jacketed hollowpoints, and FMJs, reloads and factory ammo.

I have one great gun had trouble with factory mags sticking replaced mags ok now. The problem with RIA guns is poor manufacturing of some of the parts. I had one with a few problems i don’t think i would buy one again.

The one I bought new at Cabela’s is at that standard or better. That exact gun. No FTF’s or failure to return to battery ever. No oddly sharp edges you seem to have so much trouble with (and I work an office job – my hands aren’t tough by any measure). Still wondering in amazement at your experiences with this gun.

Don’t forget, the gun is also older. Armscor has been working to improve pretty much everything. I’d like to see a comparison between this gun, and a new production one to see if there are improvements.

My 10mm other than hating the VZ10grips. Has taken 30 or so hogs, no Failures of any kind. Carried a basic 1911 as a duty pistol after the ramp was polished for hollow points and 400 federal 185gr. JHP’s run through.without any failures. Much better than the Taurus my son won at a match. Even free felt overcharged paid $125 for 2 trips to repair 3rd time for same thing they sent a call tag, returned a brand new pistol Plus a free 24/7 .45 traded both to the dealer that was transferring for an almost new 625 no lock. Perfect shooter, son has won 2 matches with it likely. 2500 rounds fired from factory to reloads in last 18 months only problem is a bit of holster wear.

Is your poor grammar or abysmal writing skills a result of: 1. being a former LEO, 2. failing to graduate from grammar school, 3. being a bit senile, 4. zero typing skills, 5. sheer laziness, 6. English is not your primary language, 7. too many rounds fired without hearing protection, or 8. sniffing too much Hoppe’s No. 9? Do us a favor, take the time, and make your posts a bit easier to read and comprehend.

If everybody wrote like this guy the TTAG blog would be history by now. It would be too painful to read. Thankfully most contributors are more literate or take the time to think before they write. OK, maybe the guy is just a product of the American educational system so I should just cut him a break. Or maybe years of pulling people over for rolling through stops signs have had a cumulative effect. But I’m not asking for a peer-reviewed, footnoted PhD thesis, just something above 3rd grade Pigeon English with a proper sentence structure and punctuation. We’re not talking rocket science here. That’s the problem today, too many people accept mediocrity or worse and make excuses for it. IT’S ONLY A BLOG MAN!

I’ve given the guy a higher goal post to shoot for. Self improvement is to be encouraged, at least in my world, maybe not yours. Typos are certainly acceptable as we all make them, but his post is a real mess. BTW: If you have the time, why don’t you translate and rewrite his post so that the rest of us can understand it without rereading it five times. I must admit that I have a certain preexisting lack of respect for LEOs and their ilk. Their sense of overbearing superiority and power just bother me. Many lie, plant evidence, and defend their dirty brethren. And when their adrenaline gets pumping, they are truly dangerous to civilians at large. I wonder if this guy’s police reports were just as sloppily written? OTOH: if he took a bullet to the brain while on the job I really and truly do owe him an apology.

I bought an ATI 1911 for a “fun gun” about a year ago and have been pleased. $400 out the door. No issues while shooting, one warranty claim due to a plunger tube issue and it took the factory a week to get it back to me. Heard of others with issues but mine is not a bad peasant level 1911.

While I agree that my Armscorp GI 1911 had some sharp machined edges, mine has always been super reliable with WWB and Blazer as well as premium ammo. I use Chip McCormick 8 rd stainless mags as the factory mag was junk. I got the High Standard version with its minimal markings. I do not think they do this version anymore. The pistols are the same other than the slide markings.

I know it is a minor, nit-picking detail, however: There is no such word as Phillipino. The term you are looking for as an adjective is either Philippine or Filipino. Further, if the word did exist, it would be spelled Philippino, with a double “p” instead of a double “l”. This is a common mistake, but one that any half-ass spell checker will highlight for you.

I have the 5″ Goverment A2 model from Arms Corp. of the Philippines, and have never experienced a failure. But have heard from a lot of people who were not as lucky as me. An interesting piece of information is that the original tools and die that were used by Armscor came from the original Colt factory in Manila.

So you called your Marine armorer buddy, asked him a question. Then you asked him another question, and HE LOOKED AT YOU LIKE YOU WERE AN IDIOT. Oh, were you standing within eyesight while talking on the phone?

My tech-challenged WWII Vet is a Marine… Yes, I said “is.” You do not know pain until you try to get him to accept that Chrome and Google are not downloading his Microsoft wrong every 10 minutes or so…

Nope. He’s my uncle by marriage. Called him and tslked, went to his house, had lunch, reloaded some, chit chatted about his health, the weather, short wave radio, guitars and guns. Not every detail makes it into the article.

Purchased a Tac II 9mm from Rock Island at the turn of the year. I am somewhere between 800-1000 through it. Not completely perfect but I can count the number of malfunctions on one hand. No rough spots or beating up of my hands whatsoever.

Perhaps the fact that I’ve never run more than a couple hundred through it at a time I haven’t given it enough of a chance to chew up my hand?

guess it is not relevant to this topic, but my officer RIA 1911 remains just great. opened the plastic bag, wiped off the obvious areas of grease (removed the grips, too), and took it from the counter to the range. i shoot this one better than anything else i tried (including military handguns). still waiting for the darn thing to turn to crap. had this one two years. reckon if nothing goes wrong in the next year, i will buy another (maybe the specops black one).

btw, my lgs has all the big name/big dollar 1911s represented. just manipulating the slide on anything below $5k makes me glad i have the RIA. i would happily accept the donation of a mega-dollar 1911, but the RIA (no experience with the commander or full size) makes me grin.

I have a Norinco 1911 clone I bought new in the 90s for $180 (if memory serves). That was a bargain, Gun is still kicking many rounds later. very reliable with .45 ball, hates any hollowpoints. Doesn’t beat up the hand at all. Accurate enough. Not a carry gun, but fun for plinking. Lower assembly is currently hosting a mech-tec CCU.

because it’s a .45, the limitation to ball ammo is acceptable – ’cause ya know a hit with .45 ball ammo will vaporize the flesh and leave nothing but a bare skeleton. Hollowpoint .45s actually steal the soul of anyone they hit, and that just seems like overkill….

I got one of these in .38 super and the breach face didn’t have enough room to accept the semi-rimmed .38 supers. I was planning on modding it anyway so I had that addressed when I had a beavertail and trijicon sights installed. Interestingly enough, I found the GI style sights to be very precise as long as the light was good. So why did I spend a bunch of money to have it modded? Because.

90% of the time, these failures to RTB can be traced back to an extractor that has been set a little too tight from the factory, the other 10% are usually caused by either an extractor hook that has a burr on it, or a breech face that has a sharp firing pin hole, or very rarely, a too tightly fitted barrel bushing.

All of those problems can be fixed by a competent DIY guy in about half an hour, given only a needle file, a .45 Auto round, and the willpower to stop futzing with it once he’s done what needs to be done.

The fixed extractor design on a 1911 requires more tuning than the later developed external spring loaded extractors that more modern designs use.

Once properly tuned though, the fixed extractor works every bit as well and reliably.

Why 1911 OEM’s don’t tune their extractors properly from the factory is anyone’s guess, but I’d wager they’d halve their warranty complaints if I they did so.

I’ve had great luck with the 3 I’ve owned over the years. The GI is my favorite. It is the most comfortable 1911 I own. I can’t understand what exactly is cutting into your had like that from the one I own.

Its funny how all the youtube and comment box warriors make elaborate claims about thousands of rounds through their RIA 1911s “with no malfunction” (straight face). Which brings up several points:

1.) No you dont have “thousands of rounds” through your gun (one claimed 20k without “parts replacement or malfunction I tell ya!”). You are FOS.

2.) Even if you did shoot a 1000 without a malfunction (nothing short of a divine miracle tbh), other RIAs wont. Period. They dont have a consistent pattern of reliability. Your anecdotes are not enough to convince me of the many troublesome ones I’ve dealt with.

3.) If you are on a budget and choose a 1911, you have your head screwed on backwards. They’re not for those on budgets. if you are on a budget, get a M&P or glock (or walther or Ruger). Listen to LAV, even if learning something offends you

Glad to know my RIA is trash. Have an officer style 9mm that only had problems with one 20rd box of JHP (not using that brand anymore). Have 1150rds thru the gun, with 8 fail-to-feed (noted in prior sentence). So I only have 1130 failure free, sequential rounds out the spout. On any other gun, I would consider that performance good enough to trust for EDC. However, being such a POS of a pistol, I am taking your advice and going to the local pawn shop to see what I can get for it. Better to trust a GLOCK with about 45 intermittent FTF and 1000rds downrange. A GLOCK is without question the better gun, even if it malfunctions more often. The GLOCK used to be my “fun gun” because it was a beginner purchase, replaced for regular use by the compact RIA..

Thanks again for your input.

Oh wait, my experience with the GLOCK is only anecdotal. Guess I just have to go with all the other anecdotal experiences and trust my life to someone else’s anecdotal experience with a GLOCK that never failed. That’s right, all reliability stories are anecdotal, like real world experience. The science behind the GLOCK reliability is predicated on whose testing? GLOCK? Yeah, their testers don’t set up ideal conditions and test until they get what they are looking for, not at all like those RIA folks who live on an island and will say anything to make a sale.